


Working Mind

by NumberM



Category: Fate/Grand Order, Fate/stay night & Related Fandoms
Genre: F/F, Fluff and Angst, Spoilers for the Lost Belts (I guess), mentions of wanting to commit suicide, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-12 13:01:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29260890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NumberM/pseuds/NumberM
Summary: Fujimaru, sick of being the only one that doesn't know how to fight, asks Jing Ke to train her, only to be dismissed due to the Assassin being unwilling to train her Master for her line of work. The question comes up a year later, on a snow covered hill beneath a great tree.
Relationships: Fujimaru Ritsuka/Jing Ke | Assassin
Comments: 1
Kudos: 9





	Working Mind

**Author's Note:**

> I'm gonna be completely honest with you, I haven't even played past camelot, so I don't know how close to form the short dip into the First Lostbelt I wrote is. This was mainly from a spark of inspiration before sleep (which is why I'm hurriedly typing this at 4 in the morning) so apologies for any errors hat will be found within.
> 
> My take on a Lostbelt era Ritsuka is based on the short comics from ClinickCase (although it seems the idea of Ritsuka being distraught by what they have to do in the lostbelts is a very popular idea).
> 
> Without further ado, please enjoy.

“Jing Ke! Jing Ke!”

The assassin turned towards me with a cocked head. “Yes, Master?” Her hair, black as night, hung wet over her face. Even a simple action such as clearing her vision was elegant., making my heart skip a beat somewhat.

“Your Noble Phantasm is as cool as ever!” I clench my hands into fists and pull them close to my chest, only to shoot my arms up and open my hands again to emphasise my point.

She merely chuckled. “You flatter me so, Master, yet I must admit I don't understand why you find it so ‘cool.’ I can only ever be reminded of my failure whenever I call upon my Nonreturnable Dagger.”

Now it was my turn to tilt my head. “Well..” I start, “When you put it like that, it doesn’t seem all that great. That’s why you have to think on the bright side! You were remembered, brought into the Throne of Heroes, despite that failure. And because of that, Jing Ke and I were able to meet!”

Jing Ke blushed as her eyes went wide. “Oh.. Umm…” She stood stiff as a board, Her hands, free after putting away her weapon, dusted away at her silken robe. “I guess.. When you look at it that way..”

“Sooo..” I trail off. “Can you teach me how to fight?”

Her surprised face fell into a flat contemplative gaze, before shaking her head.

“No, I’m sorry Master.”

“Wh- But why?!”

As I’m about to go on and protest about how I can fight too, about how I want to protect her, and the rest of my servants too, she reaches over and places a hand on my head.

“Master is too precious and innocent to shed blood.” She smiled, that soft smile that she only let slip when looking at the two things she adored; the alcohol that filled her cup and the moon. “I’d sooner let myself die countless times than let my dear Master enter this cursed, blood-soaked world I live in.”

It was my turn to blush at that. I wonder if I can keep this happiness with me for the rest of my days…

///

I stand atop a snow-caked hill, overlooking the sprawling town below, and the massive tree near its center, where a grand battle was currently taking place.. I haven’t slept right in days, evidenced by the bags under my eyes. I remember the conversation again, and I feel my heart shudder in disgust.

“What will happen to this Lost Belt’s citizens?” I asked.

“Well, it’s difficult to say, but…” The reply came. “They’ll probably undergo an apocalypse level event, since the Fantasy Tree has created its own world that its King governs.”

I feel the bile rise in my throat again. My damned stomach still refuses to accept food, like my body was rejecting me, telling me that if I didn’t kill myself it woulddo the work for me.

I think about it nightly.

I swallow the acid before coughing a couple of times into my gloved hand. Mash stands next to me, Even though I do not see her, I know that Jing Ke is nearby.

“Master,” Mash calls out. “We should make haste to the battle, we must find a way to destroy the Tree.

Of course.

“You go help Da Vinci start up Shadow Border. I’ll be there in a minute.” I spat.

“Of course.” Removing her shield from the ground, Mash began to sprint away.

Quiet. Finally some peace and quiet. The battle was too far away for sound to carry, so the wind was the only thing she could hear.

I enjoyed a few minutes of the quietness of solitude. It suited me now.

A single soft crunch of snow under foot behind me.

“Jing Ke..” I called, pleaded for.

I wonder what happened to my happy days. I wish I could bring them back..

“What about now?” I ask, remembering that conversation we had so long ago, while I was still a novice Master.

“Jing Ke… Soon.. Blood will stain my hands.” As if on cue my hands begin to shake. “I feel the burden of hundreds, thousands of souls on my back. They curse me, they wish death upon me and they keep screaming at me..”

I turn to the woman, her face filled with such a profound sorrow that my heart, despite itself, aches more that it does already.

“Won’t you teach me to fight, to hide my sorrow so that I can sleep, so I can eat without throwing it up within the hour?”

I fall to my knees, the snow freezing to the touch.

“Please…” I plead, “Please…”


End file.
